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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Champaud competed in the parallel bars, ________________, and pommel horse events.
  2. Lukas kept the diamonds in a locked ________________.
  3. Winning one ________________ isn't the same as dominating a sport.
  4. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  5. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  6. The party suffered for the ________________ of party-switching.
  7. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  8. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  9. Don't do anything ________________.
  10. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  11. The ball is in your ________________.
  12. I seem to be developing a ________________.
  13. Only by prohibiting all nuclear weapons, we can together stop the arms ________________.
  14. The water is too ________________.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  17. Atomic bombs are a danger to the human ________________.
  18. There's no middle ________________.
  19. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  20. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  21. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  22. The ceiling is a plaster ________________ painted with stars.
  23. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  24. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. vault — in gymnastics
  2. vault — a safe
  3. race — a contest
  4. hide — to keep secret
  5. hide — to keep secret
  6. rash — a series
  7. cold — an illness
  8. court — of a king
  9. rash — hasty
  10. hide — animal skin
  11. court — for sport
  12. rash — on the skin
  13. race — the arms race
  14. cold — not warm
  15. ground — crushed
  16. wound — an injury
  17. race — humankind
  18. ground — a position
  19. wound — past of 'wind'
  20. cold — the Cold War
  21. court — of law
  22. vault — an arched ceiling
  23. wound — an injury
  24. ground — the earth

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com